Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Just for the Summer

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

186 reviews

rmkg's review against another edition

I really liked this one. The world is getting so lived in, with so many familiar faces, and the two leading characters were lovable and fleshed out, with realistic strengths and problems. I was really rooting for them.

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ashrad's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Loved it. Really enjoyed that it was a bit different than other romances- there wasn’t that annoying thing where if only the characters had a real conversation this all could be avoided. Not quite a 5 star only because I don’t think it’s a book I’m going to be thinking about months from now, but definitely would recommend and I’m looking forward to checking out other books by Abby Jimenez.

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bringmybooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

✨Bring✨ | ~~Borrow~~ | ~~Bypass~~

Thank you to Edelweiss, Forever, & Hachette Book Group for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

Review: Abby Jimenez's books are just so. dang. FUN. I love how there are super serious topics presented in each of her novels, but that they are done in a way that lets you go through the tough things without feeling like you've been clobbered. This probably wasn't my favorite of the books, just because the logic/plot portion of it missed a bit for me (for the most part, I'm able to suspend disbelief for her plots, but this one felt a bit too far-fetched). That being said, I can definitely say that if you've liked her previous books, I would feel fairly confident recommending this one to you as well!

Overall Rating: ★★★★ / 4.13

Rating each element of the book out of 5★
Characters ★★★★★
Atmosphere ★★★
Writing ★★★★
Plot ★★★
Intrigue ★★★★
Logic ★★★
Enjoyment ★★★★
Pacing ★★★★
Dialogue ★★★★

★ did not like / ★★ it was okay / ★★★ liked it / ★★★★ really liked it / ★★★★★ loved it

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hanlov's review

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the biggest forehead kiss to Abby for this book!! I think this may have dethroned POYW for my favorite book of hers. It absolutely adore everything about this book

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vanessagrausam's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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kaylahcc's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kell_xavi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.5

The situations in this book are grounded, funny, warm, and full of life. Emma and Justin are strong characters, adults with complex lives who’ve been holding back a little bit, but find a way to trust one inch at a time.

There are great settings: the island and cabin where Maddy and Emma stay, the Dahl home with its family chaos, Justin’s studio, and the Mall of America replace the typical romantic scenes; the characters around each protagonist make things both more difficult, more real as well.

I love the way Jimenez introduces Justin through a Reddit post and flirty texting, and how much more weight they both have by the end.

This is a heavy book, more so than I anticipated. Emma’s mother is a hard character to write and a hard person to reckon with. Jimenez writes her through Emma’s eyes, mostly. This means that this volatile, neglectful, untrustworthy person is written with sensitivity, which I always appreciate when it comes to depictions of mental illness (Jimenez doesn’t diagnose Amber, and nor will I, except to say her behaviour reminds me a lot of Angelina Josie’s character in Girl, Interrupted). It also means that we hear about her through memories and coping mechanisms of a little girl, abandoned, and this is heartbreaking.

You’re not asking too much. You were just asking the wrong person.

Justin is quietly angry so much of the time, and I’m glad Jimenez wrote him that way. My own boyfriend is similar, and anger can hold a lot resilience, and resistance to things that are unfair. Anger can problem solve and it can love, and the flip side to Justin’s frustration is an unwavering heart that was moving to read.

I love Maddy’s dedication to her best friend. There were a few moments when I didn’t like Maddy very much: her approach isn’t subtle, and doesn’t feel supportive at first, but this is a love story between Emma and Maddy as much as anything else. Jimenez treats Emma with grace, and Maddy helps us see her toughness and care and joy, as much as her hurt.

The one irksome aspect of this book is how clean and similarly-concluded a few of the relationships are (those from Jimenez' previous novels, and those mentioned in the epilogue).

I cried more than once as Justin and Emma discovered and made amends with their dark parts. I was lucky to meet them and proud to let them go.

… because if it’s this good when life is draining and mundane and hard, think of how wonderful it will be when the love songs are playing and the moon is out.

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